Swivel yoke

ABSTRACT

A YOKE FOR CONNECTING TO A VALVE BODY, THE YOKE HAVING A TUBULAR STEM ROTATABLY AND SLIDABLY RECEIVED IN A THROUGH BORE HAVING AN AXIS GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE YOKE AND FASTENING MEANS TO SECURE A HEAD ON THE STEM BETWEEN A CIRCUMFERENTIAL SHELF SURROUNDING THE BORE AND THE VALVE BODY.

' p .2 ,191'1 TAYLOR 3,6063% I SWIVEL YOKE Fna April 1, 1969 f Inve ntor rthur R. Taylor United States Patent 3,606,390 SWIVEL YOKE Arthur R. Taylor, Alameda, Calif., assignor to Chemetron Corporation, Chicago, Ill. Filed Apr. 1, 1969, Ser. No. 812,183 Int. Cl. F161 35/00 U.S. Cl. 28539 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A yoke for connecting to a valve body, the yoke having a tubular stem rotatably and slidably received in a through bore having an axis generally parallel to the plane of the yoke and fastening means to secure a head on the stem between a circumferential shelf surrounding the bore and the valve body.

This invention relates to a swivel yoke when connected to a container for gas permits a regulator and a cylinder pressure gauge to be selectively positioned on the cylinder for various cylinder placements.

More specifically, a gas such as gaseous oxygen contained under pressure in a cylinder is delivered from the cylinder through a cylinder valve assembly. Many pressure reducing regulators and flow control devices are constructed and adapted so that they may be attached either directly to a cylinder valve in one position only or to a yoke which itself may be attached to the cylinder valve in one position only. Because these are wrench fixed positions, the operator must close the cylinder valve when repositioning the regulator in order to prevent gas from escaping while the regulator is loosened. With such a fixed assembly, a cylinder pressure gauge attached to the regulator also is positioned in a preselected but inflexible relationship to the cylinder itself. Thus, if the cylinder is repositioned, the regulator and gauge are relocated relative to the hands and eyes of the operator.

For many uses, such as when the cylinder is being used in respiratory emergencies, it is important to have the regulator at all times within the operators reach and to have the cylinder pressure gauge at all times within the operators sight. Through the novel arrangement provided by this invention, the regulator and cylinder pressure gauge are capable of being repositioned by hand, in an operable and readable location respectively, when the cylinder is placed in difierent positions. The regulator carrying the gauge may be hand-swivelled on the yoke. Further, the regulator and attached gauge are movable with respect to the cylinder valve assembly to selected positions, in response to hand pressure, without the use of a wrench to loosen the regulator from the cylinder valve. There is no need to close the cylinder valve during the adjusting operation.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a simple and efiicient yoke for selective positioning of a pressure reducing regulator and associated gauge on a cylinder.

Another object of this invention is to provide mounting means for a gas regulator on a cylinder which compensates for variations in cylinder placement in response to hand pressure alone.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description of an illustrated embodiment thereof proceeds taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a swivel yoke, incorporating the principles of this invention, connecting a regulator to a cylinder valve.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged horizontal view, partially in section, showing the yoke of FIG. 1 connected to the valve; and

FIG. 3 is a horizontal plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, a valve body 10 is threaded into a cylinder, a portion of which is shown at 12. The cylinder contains a supply of gas such as breathing oxygen under pressure. A valve stem 14 extends from the valve body 10 and is rotatable by a handle or key 16. The stem 14 is connected to valve mechanism (not shown) Within the valve body .10 for permitting or stopping flow of the gas from the cylinder. A swivel yoke assembly 18 is connected between the valve body .10 and a pressure reducing regulator and flow meter 20'. The regulator 20 may be manually adjusted in known manner so as to effect a desired reduction of gas pressure within its operating range by turning a handle 22. A screw 24 is turned by the handle 22 so as to increase or decrease the tension on a spring which counters the pressure exerted on a diaphragm by gas in a relatively low pressure chamber within a pressure reducing regulator body 26. A valve cylinder cooperates with a piston positioned therein so as to form a variable opening through which controlled quantities of gas may be transferred from a relatively high pressure chamber into the relatively low pressure chamber adjacent the diaphragm. The spring actuates a pin carried by the diaphragm, which pin opens the valve. The gas under regulated pressure enters the low pressure chamber and forces the diaphragm against the spring and thus permits the valve to move toward a closing position. However, a condition of balance is established between the pressure of the gas in the low pressure chamber and the pressure of the spring as determined by the adjustment of the handle 22. Thus, a desired amount of gas is permitted to pass through the regulator. The gas in the low pressure chamber is discharged from a barbed filter orifice outlet 28 opening out of the regulator body. A cylinder pressure gauge 30 operatively connects into the body 26 to illustrate the pressure of the cylinder 12 in terms of pounds per square inch by indicia 32 printed on the gauge and a rotatable needle 34 responsive to the gas pressure within the cylinder 12. For many uses, such as when the cylinder 12 is being used in a respiratory emergency, it is important to have the gauge 30 visible to and the regulator 20 operable by an individual manually adjusting the flow of the gas.

The yoke assembly 18 which adjustably mounts the regulator 20 to the valve body 10 includes a unitary frame 36 illustrated as having a generally rectangular shape and being adapted to surround the valve body. Because different gases may be supplied in cylinders having a generally similar external appearance, a safety arrangement is included on the frame 36 and valve body 10 to prevent the distribution of an undesirable gas through the regulator. An enlarged portion 38 on one side of the frame is provided with key means 40 (FIG. 2) having an individual formation, here represented by a plurality of pins having a special arrangement, number, size and/or shape individual to mating key means 42 on the valve body 10. The latter mating key means 42 are here represented by a plurality of holes in the valve body 10 corresponding in arrangement, number, size and/or shape with the pins comprising the key means 40. In the illustrated arrangement, the key means are adapted to fit into the mating key means, but only when the correct yoke has been connected in proper orientation with the valve body 10. If the yoke is incorrectly arranged, the key means and mating key means cannot interengage.

A fastening device is associated with the frame 36 to end of'the screw 44 is adapted, as with a tapering portion 46, to seat in an indentation 48 formed in the side'of key figured to receive andbe turned by the key 16. Rotation of the screw 44 toward the valve body 10 by the key fixes the 'yo ke assembly 18 to the valve body 10.

S id e..38 of -the frame 36 has a through hole or bore 50 (FIG. 2) which is generally coaxi-ally aligned. with the yo ke screw 44.- The bore 50 is circumferentially enlarged at itsinside end to provide an enlarged hole 51. c oaxially of the bore 50 having a depressed shelf portion 52 adjacent the inside end of the frame. The hole 5 1 may, be omitted and the shelf 52 formed about the bore 50 on the face of the frame carrying the key means 40. A stem .54 is passed loosely through the hole 50 and is threaded into the regulator body 26 so that the frame 36 is adapted to rotate of the stem 54. The stem 54 has an enlarged head 56 configured to provide gripping surfaces for a wrench for threading the stem into the regulator body. The enlarged end of the bore is of sufficient circumferential dimension to permit the head 56 to enter freely therein. A shoulder 57 on the enlarged head 56 faces and cooperatively engages the depressed shelf 52 of the frame 36 and limits the axial movement of the yoke from the stem 54 when the stem 54 is connected to the regulator. The depth of the enlarged hole 51 is selected to receive only a portion of the length of the head 56. Thus when the shoulder 57 and the shelf 52 are engaged a portion of the head 56 extends into the inside of frame 36. A passageway 58 is formed longitudinally of the stem 54 and through a nipple .60 extending outwardly of the head 56. A nylon tank-yoke washer 62 surrounds the nipple 60 and seats against the outer surface of head 65. When the yoke is properly aligned with the valve body through the interengagement of the key means 40 and the mating key means 42, the nipple 60 is received in a valve outlet opening or orifice 64 formed in the valve body '10. As the yoke screw 44 draws the valve body 10 and the frame 36 together, the-washer 62 seats between the enlarged head of the stem 54 and the valve body 10 and prevents gas leakage from the interface. When the valve stem 14 is rotated to operate the valve mechanism within the valve body 10, gas from the cylinder flows through the valve and out of the orifice into the passageway 58 from which it flows into the regulator 20.

With the stem 54 and head 56 being loosely rotatable in the holes 50 and 51, the pressure regulator and the cylinder pressure gauge are rotatable by hand pressure to selected positions relative to the valve body 10 with the key means 40 and mating key means 42 still generally interengaged. There is no need to remove the yoke frame 36 from the valve body 10 or to close the valve. When the regulator 20 and gauge 30 are the valve body 10 opposite the side carrying the cans 42. The outer end of the yoke screw is con-' repositioned, the yoke screw 44 is threaded axially toward the valve body 10, and, as described, the side 38- of the frame 36 is drawn toward the valve body 10, the enlarged depressed shelf 52 in the frame 36 engages the shoulder 57 of the enlarged head 56 on the stem 54, and the washer 62 is drawn tightly between the head 56 and the valve body '10 with the nipple '60 seated in the valve outlet opening 64. With the frame 36 being tightly connected to the valve body 10, the frictional engagement between the shoulder 57 and the shelf'52 holds the regulator 20 and the cylinder pressure gauge in the preselected position and prevents their rotation about the stem 54.

Thus it will be appreciated that all of the recited objects, advantages and features of this invention are obtainable in a simplified and highly practical arrangement. It will be further understood that although this invention has been described with respect to certain specific embodiment's thereof this invention is not limited thereto, since various modifications of said invention will suggest themselves from the aforesaid description and are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the appended claim wherein there is claimed: 7

1. A swivel yoke adapted to be connected to a valve body having an outlet orifice, said yoke comprising: a frame adapted to surround the valve body, said frame having a through bore disposed generally parallel with the plane of said frame and a circumferentially continuous annular shelf formed in said frame at the inner margin of said bore; a tubular stem having inner and outer ends and an axial through passage between said ends and being slidably and rotatably received in said bore. with sufficient clearance to permit free rotation of said stern within said bore, said outer end being adapted to freely pass through said bore and having means thereon to connect other apparatus to said stem, said inner end being adapted to receive sealing means pthereon to engage the valve body for communication between the outlet orifice of the valve body and said passage; at said inner end an enlarged head having a shoulder and being configured to provide a plurality of flat gripping surfaces for a tool, said shoulder being adapted to engage said shelf with sufficient clearance between said shoulder and said frame at the margin of said shelf to permit free rotation of said stem with respect to said frame; and fastening means for drawing said head toward the valve body and to force said shelf 5 against said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DAVE W. AROLA, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 285-198, Dig. 15 

